Supporting board for playing solitaire and other games



J. JAcoBs SUPPORTING BOARD FOR PLAYING SOLITAIRE AND OTHER GAMES Filedsept. 15, 1945 May 14, 1946.

Patented May 14, 1946 OFFICE SUPPORTINGy BOARD* Forti. PLAYING SOLITAIRE AND OTHER-GAMES Joseph Jacobs, New Orleans, La. Y i

Application September 15, 1943, Serial No. 502,515

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a supporting board for use in playing solitaire or like games and it has for its object to provide a simple and inexpensive article of this sort which may be made largely of paper or card-board or like non-critical materials and which will serve to hold the cards played in such manner that the lowermost and uppermost cards will be held exposed to view.

The device of the present invention is particularly intended for the use of persons lying in bed and the provision of the plurality of telescopic cups, hereinafter described, makes it possible for a person to play solitaire while in bed and Without the danger of the cards slipping from' the board, despite the fact that the board is held in such' an inclined position that the cards may be readily viewed. An additional cup .is provided for the reception of the cards which have not been played, so that if the game should be in-v terrupted, it may be resumed at any time with the certainty that all of the cards will be found in the position in which they were left. 'I'his cup receives the cards in groups of threes, during play., as hereinafter described.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which follows. Y

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a board embodying the features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal, sectional view upon line 2-2 of Fig. 1, through one of the tableau cups, hereinafter described,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the tableau i cups, looking from the rear `or board side thereof; Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the board, upon a reduced scale; and

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of Fig. 4.

Like numerals designatecorresponding parts in al1 of the gures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, 5 designates a rela tively heavy and stili:` board which may be of any suitable material such as heavy card-board, wood, metal or plastic and the face of the board may be covered with any suitable finishing material, such as imitation leather paper or cloth fabric, this covering material not being shown. In carrying out the invention I secure to the face of the board 5, any suitable number, but preferably seven, of tableau cups 6. These cups may be formed of stiff, springy paper or any other suitable material. These tableau cups are formed from a sheet of materialsuch as paper, cloth, imitation leather or the like, said sheet of material being cut and folded to constitute a front lfurther play can be made.

walll 1., and panels 8 and 9 which extend all the way to the bottom of the cups. A flap I0 which 1 is folded over against the rear facey of the panels 8 and 9 is cemented or otherwise secured to the Y rear face of said panels. This constitutes a relatively deep pocket for the reception of the top cards T. A shallower pocket for the reception of the bottom cards B is provided by the telescopic folds constituted by the panels I I and I2. The material of the panels I2 is bent upon itself to form outwardly and upwardly turned flaps I3 which are cemented or glued to the outer faces of the panels 9, thus forming bottoms for the pockets I 4. These are the shallower pockets referred to and which receive the lowermost cards B. It should be understood that Fig. 3 is a view looking from the rear side or from that side of the cup which lies against the face of the board. In other words, the faces I2a of the panels I2 are the faces which lie against and are cemented to the board 5. Thus, it will be seen that each tableau cup comprises two telescopic pockets, one

shallower than the other. The telescopic nature of these pockets makes it possible for groups of cards to be built up therein, while the fact that one pocket is shallower than the other causes the cards B in pocket I4 to project materially above the cards in the deeper pocket 1a. Additional groups of ycups I5, four in number, bear indicia such as is indicatedv at I6, indicating that these cups are to be used as the starting cards for the several suits. Another cup I1, which I have called a talon cup, holds the unplayed cards, when it is desired to lay aside an unfinished game. This cup also receives the cards in groups of threes, during play. If the top card of such a group can be properly played on a tableau build, it is so played and if not an additional `group of three is placed in the tableau cup and so on until after successive runs of the remaining cards, no Any suitable means may be employed for holding the board in an upright position, during play. One such element I8 is indicated in Figs. 4 and 5 as being of easel leg formation. This leg is hinged at I 9 to the board 5 and it may be provided with recesses 20 shaped to fit over the legs of a person in bed and aid in holding the board against accidental slipping. 'Ihe talon and starting pockets are substantially like the structure of Fig. 3, except that the shallower pocket is omitted. In other words, these pockets are of 'single depth. It will readily be appreciated that many ways will suggest themselves to persons interested in avoiding the patent for modifying the simple construction of the dethe front wall, a ap extending from the lower Y edge of the front wall for a short distance only up said panels and being cemented to said panels to thereby constitute a relatively deep pocket, a pair of panels extending from the free edge of each of the iirst named panels, one of the panels of each pair being reversely bent upon the other to constitute bellows folds, one of the panels of each pair being provided with a ap which is secured to the other panel of the pair to thereby form a bottom for the pockets constituted by the spaces between the panels of said pairs, said panels of the pairs being materially shorter than the rst named panels and the bottoms of the pockets therebetween lying materially above the pocket formed by the front Wall and the rst named panels, the rear faces of the rearmost panels of the pairs presenting flat surfaces adapted to be secured to a support.

JOSEPH JACOBS. 

